The Obama Portrait: Kehinde Wiley's Painting in Context 

Love watching your channel grow. You seem to be able to pull anyone in to appreciate art!

Love your work. I saw the painting in person. I still felt a sense of uplifting but for a different reason. I entered the room and saw a black family posing their two young, smartly dressed children in front of the painting. This memory always makes me smile. Your video has added to my understanding of the painting and that memory.

This is where the deliberate intent of a painting is still powerful and relevant in an age of Selfies isn't it.

Wonderful video! Keep it up!

You are so articulate and well researched. This, however, is one of your best so far.

Fantastic work man, keep it up!

« Flattening the hierarchy of power..inviting everyone in… » Yes! Wiley’s portraits remind me of Miranda’s portrayal of the Founders. I just saw the Obama portraits for the second time. I had a different response seeing them next to each other at the DeYoung than I had seeing them displayed in different galleries at the National Portrait Gallery.

Thanks, it was a good one.

That portrait knocked me out when I saw it. I’m Af American and have been to many famous museums around the world. Kehinde’s ability to make Obama accessible in the way of the old masters is amazing. IF you get to see this painting, take time and walk around it for one corner to the other while keeping your eyes on Obama’s eyes. It’s chilling and thrilling. Great video. Thank you

I kind of love the Obama portrait too thanks

What about the 6 fingers???

Wow. I learned so much from your video. Thank you sir 😘

I love you but please for the love if art fix the frames of the paintings in your background, my OCD can't handle it

I think that much of Wiley's stories behind the paintings are apocryphal. He is a smart guy who came along at the right time and with a very woke concept as the Left continues to play on the gap between people based on their race and gender, so once he got his awesome idea his career took off. He is living proof that this country isn't racist but it is selfish and so many wealthy elites want to appear virtuous, his career boomed. It's very impressive he got the same patronage as a guy like Andy Warhol had, who also understood that artists need a great idea more than anything and you can sell to wealthy patrons....and I don't know if it's true or just a story born out of envy, but I heard Wiley basically comes up with the concept and roughs it out and then has other people (the story I had heard was the same studios that do cartoons for Nickelodeon and other corporate networks were doing these commissioned paintings. I stress it's just a story I heard, but I can believe it these days.) The concept is brilliant. I have to also add that portraits of Napoleon and other famous people of the time were propaganda of course, but at the same time as works of art they are beautiful. They too also used interns or students or neophytes or whatever they once called them to do the tedious grunt work, like when a service was being prepared for frescoes, DaVinci or Michelangelo would hire these young eager art students to lay down the backing so the Master could do his part, the face and the hands, maybe, and they would do all the rest of the background.... It took great skill and sometimes a couple of years to do a ginormous painting like that. I cheated in many of my portraits by using a flat pattern layout (I did a portrait of my favorite glitter rockstar on a 5'x5' canvas, but my most interesting portraits I drew freehand. I just had a crush btw, not trying to make a statement) WAIT!! Isn't this major cultural appropriation? I love it but I'm from a traditional art school background. This big thing when I was a 12 year old was the no doubt VERY familiar to you well known BBC series and book called "Ways of Seeing" which I am assuming Wiley is also very familiar with. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0pDE4VX_9Kk.html Anyway, he uses the very popular 3D imagery that was really popular when I was in college, where a repetitive background, like a wallpaper, will have a hidden image you can only see if you unfocus your eyes, like the snake twining its way around the border of Obama's portrait and also his appearing to have 6 fingers on one hand (well, that's just an Easter Egg) 10:41 "People who don't often see themselves in museums or hi-end galleries." Well, to see art you must go to see it. I am sad to say that because the Left continues to see certain people as not being interested in anything the West has utilized to its benefit, like punctuality and education, and so they have intentionally created a constant underclass whom they use in exchange for these days giving them a pass on things that other people would never do (shoplifting, car theft, arson, petty theft, the Knockout Game and assault. Man, Obama would've been a great president if he'd done what every white conservative and most white Liberals who prayerfully voted for him TWICE did, to instill positivity in the unity of the nation and to show that Americans wanted to heal this racism sore and show a black man and a black woman can get married, have two children, live the American dream where anyone can grow up to be president if they work hard enough and live a virtuous life and instead we all got tricked. He did so much harm to his own community, telling them they are still victims instead of empowering them.... but that's nothing to do with the art per se. I do like your review but I wish you could have gotten a little more into the whole elitist choice of art and sculpture, like that creepy ram headed tribute to women thing atop the trade commission or someplace, since all the other figures are those of white men and then THIS is the image of women that the Elites want to show, like a creepy Satanic Eve or Lilith? Showing an armless woman wearing RBG's collar to show....what? And armless woman to show women have no power or that they are Lilith, sacrificing their own children? It's very weird. Never thought we'd get here, did you? You might want to review the meaning of this butt-ugly sculpture which makes women look foolish and mentally impaired....ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5Ry5j_kId4M.html

I'm glad to see that flowers with a simple portrait can have so much meaning and even change meaning when the old one doesn't make that much sense. I know you hate to see it but this is all mumbo jumbo just glorifying another imperial war lord. Obama wrote his own history despite having a record comparable to Bush. Did he listen to the people of flint michigan when their water was poisoned? Did he listen to occupy Wallstreet before giving tax money away to bankers? Did he listen to his own campaign promise of stopping the wars? I know most people are just gonna scoff at me "for getting political ", but reality isn't as rosy as that painting.

I like the concept of his pieces and I believe it’s about time we had an artist represent people of colour in this way. The obama painting is great, but other paintings in my humble opinion , are kitsch and pastiche, overlapping too many concepts for no transcendental reason other than to give a fake sense of “depth”. The colours are also way too acidic.

Problem with the portrait is it is not conceptually alligned with his other work. Mr. O was very much an continuation of the Bush era. He failed in positive change and kept up far right power structures: Nixon era healthcare, bailing out wall street, endless student debt, letting roe v. Wade die, and the uncountable war cr¡mes. Mr. O was awful like Bush and Reagan.

I love the portrait, but his posture does NOT show openness... come on. Wierd thing to say.

It's mind-boggling that you Americans keep refering to anything from your country as 'the most X in the entire world' when it's either demonstrably untrue or simply not quantifiable. I mean, given the past 4 years, you would expect it to start to sink in.